Sorry for the late reply; end of term is always Typhoon Suck.
I came here in 2005 to teach at a university. There's not much of a rock scene here, and its really easy to meet 'celebrities' in Hong Kong. I had seen a Dear Jane video, 男兒當打交 (Boys Should Fight)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsWE1Tqo2Ic [/youtube]
I really liked it, especially since there's nothing like it in Hong Kong's mainstream music scene.
At one of their shows that fall, I introduced myself. Turns out that two of them had grown up in Canada and one in the US, so that explained wehy the music seemed so familiar.
I hung out with them and worked on their guitars over the years. In 2009, Adam (guitar) left the band, so Howie switched back to guitar from bass and they got an extra guitarist and bass player for live purposes. The original live guitarist didn't work out, so they asked me.
Howie had played bass with me in a project I did that stalled, and the guys said they wanted someone whose sense of humor would fit in. I understand that completely, because that kind of, well, musician humor is rare here.
They made it clear to me that I was just a live musician, not a band member (apparently my predecessor struggled with that one). I understand it completely, since I really don't fit the band image.
I play gigs, period. But I'm also very grateful for that!
The record industry here is brutal. They are your label, your manager, your booking agent, your merch company and your promotions people. That doesn't mean they do all of it, just that you're not allowed/expected/encouraged to do any of it yourself. Or pay/allow anyone else to do it. I told the band that the HK music industry is like prison: whoever isn't trying to kill you is trying to f@#$ you.
The live music scene here is a real struggle, because 99% of it is Cantopop (imagine Celine Dion in Cantonese). Showcase gigs and stadium stands are the norm. Add to that the popularity of karaoke and local people rarely see live bands.
The best musicians in town are the guys who play in the (popular with expats and Chinese people who lived overseas) bars 6 hours a night. They're mostly from the Phillipines and have been playing here for decades (vestiges of Hong Kong being an R&R option during Vietnam). I got an SMS from a guitarist friend one night that said "I'm watching a guy play Jimi Hendrix flawlessly. With his feet. I quit." I'm not ncturnal enough, but the 3-6AM jams are the stuff of legend, and I believe it.
There are bands here, but only one ever got huge; Beyond was popular in the 80s but the singer died and the rest of them went solo (barring the biannual reunion shows). The rest are essentially marginalized, and gigs are (relatively) sparse.
As a consequence, the level of musicianship is not what you'd expect in a city of 6 million people. But I think part of that comes from the lack of opportunity and the competitiveness it breeds: in America, if you suck, you don't get gigs.
If there's so few gigs that people have to scrounge for bands, well...
In America/Canada/UK etc., when you get a gig, you want to blow the other bands off stage. And if you do, they go home and practice harder and get better. So that next time you have to watch out. Everyone benefits and the music gets better.
Live playing is a forge for better musicianship, and there's not much of it here. Add to that the idea that most people don't even own amps; clubs/venues rent them. So people don't get much control over their sound (or care much about it). Then you get soundmen with Nashville Disorder: the vocals are the loudest thing by far, and that's just not how rock is supposed to sound.
But there are good local bands: Hardpack, Shepherds the Weak, Qiu Hong, and some others. Unfortunately for them, they don't get on the radio, and there's almost no such thing as an opening act.
You get 'Band Shows,' where 5 or 6 bands play 5 song sets. Because people won't buy enough tickets for one band. Which perpetuates the cycle.
Although lately, 'band sound' and rock in general are making some inroads to the mainstream.
Keep your fingers crossed.
